The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Wednesday 12 2009

"Some [athletes], such as Rebecca Adlington, are hidebound by their personal sponsorship deals," said the article below about the advanced suits worn by competitive swimmers. Hamstrung was more like what we meant.

Having deliberated the legality of polyurethane-coated swimming suits for more than six months, Fina came perilously close to making a decision on the matter that is dividing the sport yesterday. Swimming's governing body said a definitive verdict could be expected on 28 July, some 10 days into a world championships which have been marred by the controversy.

"Fina has made a big step forward," said the president, Dr Julio Maglione. "The congress of nations has unanimously decided to accept the decision of the executive bureau." Fina's executive director, Cornel Marculescu, confirmed that decision would involve "less swimsuit, not more" and that "only textiles" would be used. That definition would likely exclude the polyurethane used in both Speedo's LZR and the range of next generation outfits made by Jaked and Adidas. The new regulations will come into effect on 1 January 2010.

Asked whether Fina accepted any responsibility for the fiasco resulting from their indecision – it has already ruled the suits illegal once, only to reverse the decision on appeal – Marculescu responded: "The more important issue is the future, the past we cannot change."

Fina revealed the world records set by swimmers wearing the new suits were unlikely to be retrospectively erased, but conceded that a caveat may be added to the times.

The head coach of the US men's team, Bob Bowman, was one of many to welcome the decision. "Today's decision returns the sport to being about: technique and training," he said.

Michael Scott, performance director for the Great Britain squad, was equally effusive. "I'm delighted," said Scott, "By returning to textiles the sport will regain its credibility with a lot of people. If my understanding is correct and from 1 January it's back to textiles, then today is the day we start to move forward in the sport again."

Scott has imposed a ban on the media asking questions of his athletes about the suits in an attempt to protect the team from further distraction. "It's been a frustrating and confusing time for swimmers," he said. "Let's make no mistake about it. I've had swimmers come to me and say 'what do I do?' and that's the disappointing thing about this whole saga. It's put an increased pressure on swimmers that they don't need. The suit debate has overshadowed the commitment that they make. As soon as we move on the sport will be better."

Michael Phelps echoed those sentiments, saying that while he "liked the decision" he was "not here to talk about swimsuits, I'm here to compete. If you're ever going to do that at a consistently high level, it will be because of the hard work you have done in training."

Many would disagree with that. Scott estimates that "99% of the world championship records will be broken" in Rome, thanks largely to the new suits. By 2010 however, all those records may end up with an asterisk alongside them. The British team have left the decision as to which suit to wear with the individual athletes, meaning some, such as Rebecca Adlington, are hidebound by their sponsorship deals with manufacturers who are not producing the new polyurethane-coated costumes. For others, the decision will have ramifications on their future funding from UK Sport, who award money on a performance-related basis.

"After the results are in we need to sit down with UK Sport and look at things," Scott reflected, "let's focus on what we've got here and then we will look at the results and the impacts after Rome."

Meanwhile the world championships could be the last held outdoors because of global warming. "It is clear the weather is developing. We know things are getting hot around the world," Marculescu said.